Eggplant pesto with cherry tomatoes and almonds: I call it pesto, but in reality this is a delicious eggplant cream, made with cherry tomato confit, almonds and basil. A summer condiment perfect for when tasty eggplant recipes are the must-have on our tables. It’s one of the many homemade pesto recipes we’ve made together. Do you remember our eggplant and basil pesto? Today we’ve prepared a slightly different version, enriched by the delicious flavor of cherry tomato confit, creating another simple cherry tomato recipe that’s super tasty! The eggplant and cherry tomato confit pesto with almonds, like the lemon and basil pesto or the basil and walnut pesto, is a really rich and original condiment, perfect if you’re looking for quick and economical first courses that everyone at the table will enjoy. Tasty, aromatic and indulgent, this pesto, like sun-dried tomato pesto, lets you serve a pasta that wins everyone over, and a sauce that invites you to eat it with pizza, focaccia, bread and bruschetta, or even with a simple spoon!! But let’s get into the kitchen—the recipe awaits. Before we roll up our sleeves, I remind you that if you want to stay updated on new recipes you can follow my Facebook page and my Instagram profile.
Take a look:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer and Fall
Ingredients to make the eggplant pesto with cherry tomatoes and almonds
- 1 eggplant (large)
- 1 2/3 cups cherry tomatoes
- 1/3 cup almonds (toasted)
- 2 oz Parmesan (or Parmesan and Pecorino)
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- to taste basil
- to taste salt
- to taste dried oregano
- 1 pinch sugar
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch garlic powder (or fresh and chopped)
Tools
- Oven
- Baking dish
- Blender
Preparation of the eggplant pesto with cherry tomatoes and almonds
To be precise, this is an eggplant cream with cherry tomatoes and almonds, but for convenience we’ll call it pesto. Let’s see how to make it.
Rinse the eggplant and cut it in half without removing the skin or the stem.
Score the flesh with crosswise cuts. Drizzle with a little oil, salt and place on a baking dish. To make the cherry tomato confit, rinse them and cut them in half, place them in the same baking dish where you put the eggplants and season with a little salt and a pinch of sugar, a sprinkle of oregano, a little garlic powder or chopped garlic and add 3–4 drizzles of oil.
Cook in an air fryer at 356°F for about 20–25 minutes, checking occasionally (if you use the air fryer, cook directly on the rack in the basket).Alternatively, roast in a convection oven for 34–40 minutes, or cook in the microwave for 20 minutes at 750 W and then use the grill function for the next 10 minutes.
Once both the eggplants and the cherry tomatoes are cooked, you can proceed to prepare the pesto.
Remove the skin from the eggplants and place the flesh in the blender jar together with the cherry tomatoes. Add the toasted almonds, basil, oil, cheese and blend everything until you obtain a creamy mixture.
Storage notes and tips
The eggplant pesto with cherry tomatoes and almonds is ready. You can consume it immediately at its freshest and most aromatic or store it in the fridge for two days, well sealed in an airtight container. If you use it to dress pasta, dilute it with some of the cooking water.
Alternatively you can portion it and freeze it to use as needed; consume within a few months. With this quantity of pesto and a little cooking water to dilute it, you can dress about 2.2 lbs (1 kg) of pasta.
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